Surrey North Delta Leader
Friday September 17 2010
Don’t save those HST receipts, Hansen warns
Don’t ! just mask d e v o M e the PAIN v ’ e W September 7, 2010 temporarily!
Minister says refunds would be ‘extremely difficult’ by Tom Fletcher
as it is currently drafted,” Hansen said Tuesday. DON’T BOTHER gathering up all Sorting through those millions the receipts that show the Harof transactions subject to sales monized Sales Tax you paid on tax would be “extremely difficult,” haircuts and restaurant meals, in Hansen said. hopes of getting reimbursed for And then there are the myriad them a year from now. input credits given to businesses That’s the advice under the HST, as well from Finance Minas HST rebate cheques ister Colin Hansen, that are now going out who says it would quarterly to about one be all but impossible million B.C. residents to do what former at the low end of the premier Bill Vander income scale. Zalm’s anti-HST The anti-HST petipetition calls on the tion is now scheduled government to do. to go to a provinceThe petition’s wide referendum proposed “HST on Sept. 24, 2011, in Extinguishment Act” the first use of B.C.’s demands that the 15-year-old citizen Colin Hansen old seven-per-cent initiative legislation. Provincial Sales Tax Premier Gordon be reinstated retroacCampbell announced tive to July 1, 2010, and that B.C. Monday that if the referendum residents be reimbursed “on a per produces a simple majority of votcapita basis” for any HST they paid ers who want to scrap the HST, it in excess of the provincial tax. will be done. Hansen said Tuesday that his That’s a lower threshold than government will undo the HST if the initiative law, which requires that is what the people vote to do approval by 50 per cent of all in a referendum next September, registered voters on the 2009 list but he has no intention of trying and also a majority in 60 per cent to sort through millions of big and of constituencies. small transactions. After Campbell announced he “In my opinion it would not be would treat the referendum as responsible for any government or binding on his government, Fight any legislature to commit to passHST petition organizer Bill Vander ing the HST Extinguishment Act Zalm said he was encouraged, but
HST vote too costly, mayor says
didn’t trust the premier. “He must reconvene the legislature and amend the Initiative Act to allow for a truly democratic referendum that is binding and requires a single majority vote, since the current legislation does not allow for that,” Vander Zalm said. NDP finance critic Bruce Ralston, who helped collect signatures for Vander Zalm’s petition, said he doesn’t know how the government will refund the HST costs as the petition demands. Ralston suggested an estimate of individual HST costs could be prepared for each of a range of incomes, and one-time refunds paid to everyone in the province. Neither Hansen nor Ralston would venture a guess how much that would cost, but both agreed it would be on top of repaying a $1.6 billion in transition funds to the federal government and rehiring hundreds of B.C. sales tax collectors who were moved to the federal payroll this year under harmonization. The former provincial tax and the new HST apply equally to many items, and exemptions for basic groceries and other necessities still apply. But a range of services such as gym memberships escaped the old PST, and items such as bicycles had enjoyed provincial exemptions that were lost when B.C. adopted the HST.
Dianne Watts wants referendum sooner
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Start the School Year on the Right Note
by Kevin Diakiw MAYOR DIANNE WATTS opened a land use meeting Monday by congratulating
the public they would be footing the bill for a $30-million referendum on the Harmonized Sales Tax. It was met with a groan from the audience of about 50 people, most of whom were in council chambers to apply for development permits. On Tuesday, Watts further explained to The Leader her position on the referendum. She’s pleased that there will be a public process to decide the HST, but said it should be happening way sooner than the fall of next year, when a civic election campaign will be in full swing. She also said the $30-million price tag is extremely hard to accept. She suggests if the referendum has to wait a year, a lot of money could be saved by putting it on the municipal ballots in November. “That would be a logical piece as well, is just put it on the municipal ballot,” Watts said. “The $30 million could certainly be spent on other things. I don’t think there’s any doubt in anybody’s mind it could go to better use.” The referendum on the HST is scheduled for Sept. 24, 2011.
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